Most Beautiful Princess
by TheWritingMustache
Summary: She has the prettiest eyes, the loveliest face, the most neglected of character. She's something else and Desmond falls head over heels for her. He just wants to be at her side and fight off all the threats constantly hanging over her head. He just wants her to feel loved, like she belongs (and rightly so!). She's beautiful to him, a gorgeous princess. [AU]
1. Chapter 1

So this is something I was originally going to keep on AO3, but decided for the most part, it'll be okay to upload here for the time being. This is a prompt fill for Xazz's 30 Day OTP Challenge, this being prompt #29: genderswap/trans headcanon. SO, with that in mind, you can pretty much see where this is going, right? But let me be clear now; if I start getting gross comments on this fic, I will be pulling it from the site if I can't delete them. You'll still be able to read it on Ao3, rest assured, but I won't tolerate those types of comments here.

BUT I'm sure we won't have a problem, and you'll all be able to enjoy this fic as intended, so without further ado...

* * *

><p>Desmond feels appalled that he's never noticed her before. Really, he should have, considering their lockers have probably been somewhat next to each other since they started high school. But to give her some credit, she was someone who wasn't meant to be seen, someone who threw herself into the shadows and out on the edges. She was someone who didn't open her mouth, let herself blend in with the crowd and disappear in the mob.<p>

Yet, here she was, dejectedly picking up textbooks, papers, and pencils off the floor after some assholes knocked them out of her arms and shoved her into some lockers. In response, Desmond had done the same back to them, "Lay off asswipes, get the fuck out of here!"

Desmond had only done it because he couldn't stand to see someone being so openly pushed around for no good reason (or any reason he could see outright). And after he sent those goons packing, he turned his attention back to her. Most kids had fled already, either to classes they desperately didn't want to be late to, or because they knew a fight was about to erupt and they didn't want to be near it.

Without saying anything, Desmond dropped to his knees to help her gather her things. He only spoke to her when he had gathered all that was left and helped her pack it away into her bag and such. "Are you okay?" Desmond finally asked. They looked at each other then. Desmond would never forget the experience of looking at her for the first time. A soft face with decisively high cheek bones, her hair dark and and falling well past her shoulders in messy, but wavy stretched out curls.

But her eyes. Framed by thick, black glasses, they were the bluest eyes Desmond ever had the pleasure of looking into. Essentially, she was absolutely breathtaking. He watched the hurt fade from her eyes and be replaced with panic and shock. She didn't say anything back to him, just shot back up to her feet and hurried off to class, leaving Desmond the floor to watch her go with wide eyes and a pounding heart.

Who was she?

**x-X-X-x**

Desmond couldn't get over her. He wasn't a believer in "love at first sight", but he would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in her. What was her name, what was her voice like, why had those boys pushed her around like that? Just, who the fuck was she? So he texted Clay in the middle of biology, he knew just about everyone in school, surely he would know.

'Bro, do you know a kid, long black hair, super blue eyes, wears a baggy sweatshirt?'

Clay got back to him minutes later, but somehow Desmond wasn't comforted by the answer, because he felt like something about it was completely off.

'Yeah dude, that's Alex Mercer. He's the smartest kid in our grade'

He?

**x-X-X-x**

"Are you sure?" Desmond asked Clay two class periods later. "Cause they're way too pretty to be a boy"

"I'm serious," Clay shrugged. "It's what it says in the school records and shit. Why do you care anyway?"

Desmond explained the day's events from earlier. And he told Clay how he may or may not be interested in seeing this Alex Mercer again.

"Don't do it bro," Clay warned him. "Sure, Mercer's smart and all, but he's like, one of the most disliked kids in our grade, maybe the school. Like he's all got going for him is his smarts, and that's really it. He doesn't talk to anyone, he has no friends, and even all the other super nerdy dudes resent him. I just wouldn't bother"

That only made Desmond more determined.

**x-X-X-x**

Desmond saw her again after school at the bike racks. Desmond had to bring his own bike today, his brother had his car. And he saw her there unchaining her bike. So he approached her, watched her freeze up as she did, only moving her head to look up at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Hi, Alex," he said to her. "How ya doing?"

She just started at him like he had grown a second head.

"My name's Desmond," he told her. "I just wanted to say hi."

She kept staring at him, unmoving, unblinking. Desmond awkwardly rocks back and forth in his heels, until he finally says his goodbyes, not wanting to keep her any longer than need be.

"See you around, Alex" he said, and walked away to his own bike.

**x-X-X-x**

It seems like after that, Desmond notices her presence more and more. Before, she would just slightly enter his field of vision, then disappear, another face that wasn't important to memorize. But now Desmond is hyperaware of her existence. He wants to talk to her, so bad. He wants to look at her just as much. But she always keeps her head down, let her untamed lion's mane drape over her face.

Desmond wished he had some good reason to approach her other than just a lame "hey there". He agonized over it for a week, trying to devise some sort of reason or rhyme to go talk to her. It felt like middle school all over again, back when he first crushed on Lucy, and couldn't even confess to his own best friend that he _liked_ her like that. Except that was Lucy and she knew him like the back of her hand, and he didn't have to go through a terrifying and awkward confession.

But he didn't know Alex. He didn't really know anything about her other than her name, and her style of dress, and her standing in school. But that didn't tell him anything about her. He wanted to know things like, what was her favorite movie, her favorite book, favorite food, music, pulp or no pulp, the works.

It got worse when his friends finally noticed that he was mooning over this girl hardcore. Rebecca would make comments about it, "Aw look you guys, he's thinking about her~". In which case, Desmond would blush and sputter while everyone else would elbow him playfully and ask if he's even talked to her yet, or ask when they get to meet her.

And even though he joined in on the jeers, Clay would give Desmond a knowing glance, because only Clay knew who they were all talking about. But he didn't just outright spill the beans, that was something for Desmond to say himself.

This continued on for another few weeks until Desmond finally, finally saw his chance, and took it.

**x-X-X-x**

Alex eats lunch alone in the corner where no one could bother her, and that is where Desmond found her. He just saw her there, and without even thinking, changed directions until he was plopping himself down at the table with her. Alex looked up at with those blue eyes widening in surprise. A guarded look immediately crossed her face, this was clearly something she hadn't been expecting.

"I wanted to say hi to you," Desmond blurted out. "And talk to you. For a few weeks now. So….Hi"

She blinked at him. Desmond suddenly felt very stupid for just running up to her like he did. But he knew if he left now, he'd so regret it. Hope pierced at his heart when he saw her jaw clench and unclench, and her mouth started to open and-

"Hi….Go the fuck away"

She spoke softly, but he still heard the rusty gruff in her voice.

"I just wanna talk to you" Desmond said.

"No," Alex said back. "Go away."

"But I've _been_ wanting to talk to you!"

"Why?"

"Cause I like you"

"Go. Away. _Now_."

Desmond shot up from his seat and ran off.

**x-X-X-x**

"Clay I fucked up" Desmond whined at his friend later that day. "I just wanted to talk, and I fucked up"

"What'd you say, bro?"

"I like you"

"Bro. Bro no. Bro, you didn't it!"

"I diiid"

"Desmooond, you iiiidiot"

Desmond covered his face up and whined some more. He still felt the burn of shame, the terror of knowing he fucked up after wanting to do this for weeks. He didn't know what to do anymore. That's what he got for running into it headfirst without thinking. Now Mercer was never going to talk to him again. Probably hated him too.

"Clay tell me what to do" Desmond begged. "I still wanna know 'em. I still, still just wanna knoooow. I don't wanna give up."

"Then don't?" Clay suggested. "Look, just give it some time, and go bother Mercer later. And if he bites your head off again, then that's your own fault"

Desmond nodded, he would then. Even if he still felt wrong referring to Mercer the way Clay did.

**x-X-X-x**

Chance number two came one day in the school office. Desmond was running some papers to the front desk for a teacher, and was about to leave when he saw Alex walking in and heading into the nurses's office. So Desmond followed, trailing behind her so she wouldn't notice him. He waited until she had gone inside before entering, but found she wasn't there anymore. But he did hear the bathroom door in the office click close.

So he waited some more. The nurse asked him if he needed anything, and when he said no, she let him be, just don't stay too long. When Alex came out, they caught each other's eyes, and Alex huffed loudly and stormed out of the office with Desmond sprinting after her.

"Leave me alone" Alex snarled at him once they were out in the halls.

"I'm sorry about the other day," Desmond apologized. "I got nervous, and I fucked up. I really do just wanna talk to you, please?"

Alex shot him a glare over her shoulder. "Why do you even care? And don't say because you like me again, or else I will beat your face in."

"But I do," Desmond whined. "Okay I get it, because I do, I'm not entitled to bother you. But I've literally been thinking about you for weeks."

"Bullshit you have"

"I think you have the prettiest eyes"

Alex screeched to a halt and turned around to properly face him.

"What?"

"Your eyes. I've never seen eyes like yours before and I think they're beautiful."

Alex's mouth moved, but nothing came out, and her pale face suddenly flushed.

"And I think your face is pretty too," Desmond went on. "I just think you're lovely overall."

Alex's mouth clenched shut and she looked away from him, her face red as a beet. Desmond supposed she didn't get such honest compliments very often. He also supposed she didn't get to talk to anybody in general.

"Who's your favorite band?" Desmond suddenly asked. They were here, no interruptions, no one to see them or anything. Sure, they probably both needed to get back to class, but Desmond couldn't let her go that easily.

"I don't," Alex began, sucking in a breath of air before continuing. "I don't…listen to a lot of music…"

"Okay," Desmond said. "Food?"

"…No preference."

"Movie?"

"Tangled."

There was a pause.

"I have a little sister, okay? She's obsessed with Disney." Alex explained hotly.

"No, it's cool," Desmond reassured. "Personally I prefer The Little Mermaid…Hey, Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you want me to call you?"

"C-call me?"

"Yeah, what do you personally prefer?"

They fell into a long silence. Alex was staring down at the ground, jaw clenched tight again. Desmond rocked back and forth on his heels as he waited. He could stand there all day for an answer, he didn't care. He just wanted to know. Didn't matter he was missing class and his teacher was probably wondering where the fuck he was, he wasn't leaving until he knew. Eventually Alex looked up at him, and he saw that look again in her eyes, panic, and shocked replaced with fear.

He just nodded at her and held her gaze. They continued to stand there in utter silence until Alex finally found her voice.

"Sh-…She a-and h-her…please…"

"Okay," Desmond grinned. "And I'm just regular old…He and him I guess? Yeah."

Alex nodded back. "I-I gotta go," she said.

"I'll see you later then?" Desmond asked. Alex nodded again, and they parted. Desmond walked back to class like he was on cloud nine. He text Clay along the way.

'I talked to her again. We're cool. C: '

'…Her?'

**x-X-X-x**

In response, Alex finally starts noticing him. She'll say hi to him at their lockers if Desmond doesn't say hello to her first. If they pass each other in the halls, Desmond will smile at her, or make some weird face at her. No matter what he does, she'll smile back, or look away out of embarrassment. Every other day, Desmond will abandon his friends to sit with Alex at lunch. He hasn't offered her the chance to eat lunch at his table yet, mostly because he fears she'll be overwhelmed by everyone. And while his friends are pretty liberal and chill, Desmond's not entirely sure on how he wants to introduce them to Alex without freaking the latter out.

And that is phase one of their friendship.

Phase two commences a month after. Phase two starts with Desmond walking Alex to the bike racks, and staying with her long enough for her to unchain her bike and watch her race off. Alex is responsible for her little sister after school, so she rushes to the local elementary school to get her. Desmond already knows he's going to miss this once track starts up and he'll be at school until the early evening. So he enjoys their short time together after school.

Alex is an intellect, an academic, a debater. Too many times to count, when they have each other's company for too long, they'll get into a long winded discussion on something. The discussions usually turn out the same, Desmond is an ignorant fuck and Alex is clearly the superior thinker. Desmond accepts he's no where near as smart as Alex, but he loves watching her get worked up about something, loves watching how animated she gets, the way she talks with her hands, and she looks serious. And he loves the satisfied smirk she gets when she trounces him after a rousing talk.

Desmond could honestly listen to her all day.

He tells her that one time, says to her how much he loves her voice and loves how passionate she gets, and really it's no wonder she has the best grades of their class as a whole. And then it's his turn to smirk as Alex gets flustered, and constantly complimenting her is not going to score him any points on the scale of her being right versus him being right.

Yeah, sure it doesn't.

**x-X-X-x**

One day the clouds gather and the skies darken. The cloud becomes heavier and grayer with each passing hour, until finally in the early morning, the rain is finally set loose. And it pours, all day long. The sound of rain hitting the rooftop is ever present. And it's still there even after school ends, and kids are racing to cars and buses, any sort of shelter they can find. Desmond doesn't understand how Alex could have possibly biked to school on a day like this, but he certainly isn't going to let her bike home with giant puddles flooding the streets.

"Do you want a ride?" Desmond asks her as they hover around the bike racks. "You can put your bike in my truck bed."

"My sister" Alex says.

"We can get her too. Come on, just for today, let me help you out, Alex."

Alex looks out at the sidewalks and roads, bites at her lips, and then finally agrees. She unchains her bike, and wheels it out of the bikes section and they cross the parking lot to student parking. Desmond hefts her bike up into his truck once they find it, and they both scurry inside to get avoid getting any more wet than they already were.

It's a frustrating drive through town, all the cars on the road backed up or creeping slowly along through puddles. But they make it through anyway, and Desmond balks at the school they eventually pull up to.

"Holy shit," Desmond gasped. "This was _my_ elementary school when I was a kid. That's wild. Do you two live around here?"

"Sorta," Alex replied. "Close enough it's not out of the way when I take her to school every day,"

"You didn't go here too, did you?"

"I didn't live here in town for elementary school."

Alex left it at that. Desmond pulls into the driveway and parks. Alex hops out of the truck, slams the door, and hurries into the daycare center to retriever her little sister. Minutes later, she returns with little Dana Mercer who she hustles into the backseat with their backpacks.

Dana's the cutest thing Desmond has ever seen. She still has that round baby face, full lips, rusted brown hair in twin pigtails on either side of her head. But her eyes. Those blue, blue eyes are a family trait it seems. And she turns those sparkling eyes on him with wonder and curiosity.

"Hi Dana," Desmond smiles at her. "I'm Desmond. I'm your sister's friend."

"Hi Desmond!" Dana chirps back at him in that squeaky, five year old chipmunk voice. Desmond can feel his everything melting in all the right place, goddammit she is too cute. Alex doesn't say much, just tells Dana to buckle up in that authoritative, parent voice Desmond has heard his own brothers try on him numerous times.

Dana responds with a quick yet cheery, "Okay, Allie!" and does so. As they drive around to the Mercer household, Dana immediately launches into an epic retelling of her day, mostly because today was so exciting with all the rain, and they had recess inside and got to play board games and with LEGOs. They even had lunch in their classrooms, and since today was a P.E day for some classes, they had it in the cafeteria, and that was fun cause they played broom ball and it was just the best. Day. Ever.

Desmond is almost reluctant to let her go once they arrive at the Mercer household. It's still pouring rain once they arrive. Alex sends Dana to the door with the key, and Desmond gets the bike out the back so Alex can wheel it inside. Desmond gets as far as the front door, standing there without really going inside.

"Thanks for the ride" Alex says to him as she props the bike up by the door, ready to go for tomorrow. "I…I appreciate it"

"What are friends for?" Desmond grins. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see you then."

"Byyye Desmond!" Dana calls from inside the house, and he can see her waving at him from over Alex's shoulder.

"Bye Dana, nice meeting you!" Desmond calls back. He gives Alex on more smile before he hurries back to his truck.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey…Desmond?" Alex suddenly asks him one day. "Is…Is it alright if I come with you at lunch tomorrow?"

"What do you mean? With my friends?"

"Yeah. Like, is that okay?"

"No, yeah, yes! That's totally okay! They've been wanting to meet you for like, forever now. That'd be great! And you're sure you wanna sit with them?"

"Y-yeah…Yeah I'm sure. I can handle a couple dunderheads like you, Desmond"

Desmond makes a face at her.

"Alright then Ms. Smarty Pants, be ready then"

**x-X-X-x**

They meet at their lockers the next day, and Desmond leads Alex to the lunch table with his friends. He texted everyone last night saying Alex would be joining them, and for them to watch their fucking mouths (Clay and Shaun), just be polite, don't set her off or anything. He got, more or less, positive to neutral responses. Rebecca's was the most reassuring with her texting back, 'TFW MEETING THE GF.'

To which Desmond quickly responded back to, 'She's not my girlfriend, just my friend who happens to be a girl, and if you say that in front of her, she will die, and I will too'

So Desmond is a little more than anxious to introduce Alex to the gang. But he leads her to the table with his head high and a look of hope on his face. There's nothing to worry about, and he just has to keep telling himself that, everything will be fine.

Shaun, Rebecca, and Clay are already there. Rebecca notices them first as they approach, and a huge, excited smile dawns on her. She quickly slaps Shaun's arm to get his attention, and she nods her head towards them.

Alex stops walking, her deer in the headlights syndrome kicking in. Desmond looks back at her to see the fear and uncertainty washing over her. Right, great start, they weren't even there yet.

"Ignore her, she's always like that" Desmond reassured Alex. Alex bit at her lip, but forced herself forward anyway until Desmond was sitting her down at the table.

"Hey guuuuys" Desmond greeted them. "So this is Allllex."

"Hi, Alex!" Clay and Rebecca chimed in.

"Mercer." Shaun said stiffly.

"Oh," Alex spoke as her terrified demeanor faded away, and Desmond could hear the business creeping in to her voice. "Hello, Hastings. Ass still sore from when I fucked it over this morning?"

The table went dead silent as Shaun began to fume.

"Don't go feeding that overinflated ego of yours," Shaun scoffed. "Next time you won't be so lucky!"

"I think I will," Alex hissed. "Cause I always have been. Get over it, Hastings, and be content to eat my dust."

"Uhm," Clay started, glancing between the two. "And which class do you two have again?"

"AP US History," Shaun grumbled. "Bloody waste of my time really."

"Oh I know it is. How else am I better than you in that class?" Alex carried on, and Desmond could have sworn Shaun looked ready to jump at her and tear her limb from limb. But thankfully he didn't, because the satisfied smirk on Alex's lip was really fucking cute, and Desmond didn't realize until then she simply got a kick out of antagonizing people with an actual brain.

Yup, still cute.

Before anyone else can say anything, Lucy finally walks up to plop her books down at the table with a 'whoomp'.

"Hi guys" she chirps happily at them. The table responds warmly back to her. Lucy glanced down to Alex and shot her a warm smile. "Oh, hi! Alex, right?"

Alex nods back.

"It's so nice to finally meet you! We've been waiting foreverr for Desmond to bring you over."

Desmond flinches at that, and looks to Alex in time to see her blush.

"Y-yeah?" Alex asks.

"Ohhh yeah," Clay pipes up. "Everyday, you can see it on his dumb face," and he sighed loudly with a goofy grin, staring up at the sky. "You guys there's this girl. She's sooooo dreamy. I don't have to say anything, I know you all know I'm thinking about her and-"

Desmond threw himself at Clay to shut him up.

**x-X-X-x**

"I'm really sorry about them" was the first thing Desmond blurted out at Alex later that day after the final school bell rang. "Especially Clay. I really thought they'd be chill, I told them to be, I didn't think they were gonna go on about that!"

Alex blinks at him, and then turns aways to keep shoving books in and out of her locker from her backpack. Desmond just waits, feeling absolutely shitty and crushed. He nearly killed Clay at lunch, and once they sorted that out, he nearly leapt at Rebecca too when she started going on about it. He knew his obvious crush on Alex was obvious, but not enough to where his friends needed to give him crap in front of the girl in question!

Alex's locker slams shut and she starts walking off towards the direction bike racks. Desmond looks away, shoulders slumping. He figures she doesn't want to talk right now, and really, he wouldn't blame her. But Desmond doubts himself too much, and he's more than surprised when Alex seemed to notice he wasn't following along, and she turns back to grab his arm and pull at him.

She smirks at his dumb expression as they walk. Desmond quickly falls into step beside her.

"They were…amusing" Alex says in that softened tone of hers. "Hastings is just fun to mess with. Clay reminds me a lot of you. I thought Rebecca was pretty amusing as well. And Lucy…I suppose you could say I was rather startled by how kind she outright was. I know her already, sorta. I know she's up there in terms of the higher grades amongst us, and that she's chairman on a lot of committees, but that's it really."

"So they didn't bother you too much?" Desmond asks.

"Not really," Alex says. "They didn't seem bothered by me, so I'm cool with them for now."

Desmond lets out a sigh of relief, but smiles when he hears a soft laugh from her.

"So about that crush on me…"

Oh no.

"Are they right?"

Alex looks up at him, blue eyes peering out from the top of her glasses. Desmond suddenly feels very hot under the collar, at a lost for words. They stop walking to keep staring each other while Desmond's mind races to come up with an answer. The answer is so obviously yet, but the word itself just skips right over his mouth and he's left with a gaping mouth incapable of speech.

"Okay then," Alex giggles. "How about…I tell you that…you're pretty sweet yourself…And I like you a little too?"

"A little?" Desmond echoes.

"Just a little" Alex nods, and her hand comes up to twirl some of hair around her finger. "Cause…I enjoy hanging out with you, and…You're different."

"How am I different?"

"You just are. I dunno how to explain. I feel comfortable around you, one amazing feat all on its own. Try not to make too much credit for it but…"

"You don't have to explain, honest, you don't."

They don't say anything more and continue on. Desmond feels with every step, he's floating higher and higher off the ground. No, that wasn't a full confession in the slightest, and who knows how long their small feelings of infatuation would last. But it still makes his chest flutter anyway.

Alex and Desmond part ways as usual after the former's bike is free from the racks. They don't hug, or kiss, or even touch each other. But they do smile at each other for way too long before Alex has to tear herself away and hurry off to her sister.

Desmond watches her go, then races back across school to find Lucy.

**x-X-X-x**

Lucy is indeed on several committees around school, and one such committee is held on this day after school. Desmond finds her and pulls her away from everything when he does. Only Desmond is allowed to get away this, he's seen other people try, and they usually never succeed. Lucy still sighs and rolls her eyes as he pulls her out into the hall.

"What is it, Desmond? I'd like to get some work done today before I head home"

"She likes me back!"

"Does she now?"

"Just a little. Like an itty bit. Juuuust an itty bitty bit."

"And this is…Alex we're talking about?"

"Yup!"

Lucy sighs again, but it's a good natured one as she smiles at him. Desmond had known Lucy since they were young, inseparable twins in their early years, a short fling in middle school when Lucy had grown boobs and Desmond realized she was a girl, but still amazingly close friends even after that. Desmond told her about almost everything, and everything else went to Clay. But she was here, and she had to know, and he was excited.

"So, you've known her what, a month or something now?" Lucy asks. "Not counting the time between you first meeting her and the time you two actually became friends."

"Yeeees, just about?" Desmond replied. "Let's be real, we're teenagers, when was the last time you saw someone get into an actually serious relationship in a reasonable amount of time?"

"I know, I know" Lucy rolls her eyes. "I'm just…Look, Alex seems like a nice person, to a point. I'm just worried? I've heard a lot of-"

Desmond gives her a hard look.

"…Heard a lot of unpleasant things about her. Mostly petty things. But I know she's not well liked. And you're not worried you're gonna catch any of her baggage?"

"Nope," Desmond replied simply. "I'm not that kind of asshole, Lucy."

"I never said you were!"

"So I'm not worried. If some jerkwad wants to come after me, let them. But Alex is my friend, and I like her, and I'm not gonna let anything else happen to her. Imagine if you were bullied and picked on every day of your life, and then finally, you meet the one person who doesn't ignore or ridicule you. Maybe she likes me a little because I'm the first person to care about her and not treat her like shit, so you know I just-"

Lucy clamps her hands on his shoulders.

"Desmond!" she hisses. "Lower your voice, you're almost yelling."

"Sorry," Desmond huffs. "I just…No one deserves that, okay?"

"Okay," Lucy nodded. "Desmond, it's fine, I'm sorry. Do me a favor though?"

"What's that?"

"Bring her back to lunch tomorrow"

**x-X-X-x**

Time passes, springs come in, and that means it's time for Spring Break. It's a very welcome break that everyone has been dying for. Desmond wishes he could have such a break, but ever since track started back up, he knows he won't be getting the much needed rest or study time he'd like. Nor will he have a lot of time to his friends, which is a shame because he'd to hang out and do goofy, stupid teenager shit that they were meant to do over spring break.

And then he wouldn't get to see Alex. But he could call her. Or she would call him. Either way, he wrote his cell number on her forearm the last day of school before break. Just whipped out a pen, rolled one of her oversized black sleeves, and jotted his number down. The red of the pen stood out brightly against her very pale skin, to which Desmond snored and said to her, "Get some sun this week, you need it."

To which she responded by rolling the sleeve back down and slapping him with it.

"Don't kill yourself running," Alex said and grinned at him. "And do something fun for me."

"Do it yourself," Desmond laughed. "You won't die either, I promise."

She actually hugged him before she left school that day. It was a really awkward hug where she didn't quite know what to do with her arms, and she just pressed her tiny frame against his chest for a few seconds before hopping on her bike and taking off.

But it was so totally a hug.

Desmond took it as a glorious victory as he hauled ass across school to get changed into his track uniform. She was all he could think about at practice. He honestly appreciated that she tried to show some form of affection towards him, it was the most she had ever shown him other than smiles or pulling at his arm.

Desmond had simply learned to just appreciate the simple things with Alex. She was quiet in theory, but when she had something to say, holy shit did she say it. Watching her do homework was headache inducing, because it was super long and complicated, but her handwriting was like chicken scratch and it was a mystery as to how anyone could read it and determine it was English. Her sweaters and jackets were so large on her, she was constantly pulling her arms in so she could stay warm. And if Desmond noticed, he'd pick up a sleeve and whap it in her face.

And he also noticed how her nose would scrunch up when he did. Little things like that.

Practice seemed to pass by without him noticing. Desmond was too lost in the haze from thinking about one Ms. Alex Mercer.


	3. Chapter 3

Awks conversation about attraction and gender identity ahead

* * *

><p>It's the middle of the week when Alex finally calls him. Desmond doesn't realize he had been waiting for it until that moment when he looked down at his phone and saw an unknown number calling him. At first he's confused, but then it hits him, and he suddenly can't work this thumbs and just can't seem to answer it fast enough.<p>

"Hello?" he asks once he finally hits the button and holds his phone up to his ear.

"Desmond?" he hears Alex's voice ask back.

"Hey!" he chirps. "What's up? Been missing me?"

"I'm gonna hang up on you"

"Hey hey, whoah whoah, don't do thaaat!"

He hears a soft laugh from the other side, and he can easily picture her smirk.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I kinda do? It's been way too quiet of a week without you or anyone else" Alex said.

"Yeaaah, I know," Desmond sighs. "Been missing you too. Keep meaning to have a get together, but everyone else is out of town or fucking busy. So much for this being a break huh?"

"I mean I've been busy too. Mostly with chores. I cleaned the whoooole house, Desmond."

"Okay?"

"The. Whole. Fucking. _House_. I don't think I've had time to clean it since…Oh god who knows how long. It's gross, Desmond, it was just really gross holy shit."

He can half imagine Alex on her hands and knees, scrubbing away at the floor with a soapy brush, much like a commercial for a mop from the 50s or something.

"I'll take your word for it," Desmond says. "So then what else have you-"

"WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?"

Desmond has to hold the phone away from his ear as that high pitched voice suddenly splits his ear drum in half.

"Dana, no, go back to your room, it's not done yet."

"Allllliiiie who are you taaaalking toooo?"

Now Desmond can't help but chuckle. He totally understands being the annoying younger sibling to has to get up in their older sibling's business, especially on the phone with someone.

"Dana, it's just me!" Desmond calls out into the phone.

"IS THAT DESOMUND? CAN I TALK TO HIM?"

"Dana Cristal Mercer, I swear to god, if you don't stop yelling right now-"

He hears a loud, muffled noise, followed by more shouts between Alex and Dana. Desmond can't hear much after, a lot of scuffling really. And then he hears it, a faint farting like noise as Dana begins to howl with laughter. Desmond waits for them to finish, and it's another minute before the phone is picked back up and Alex is speaking to him again.

"Sorry about that," Alex huffs. "Sent her back upstairs to finish cleaning her room."

"It's cool," Desmond reassures.

"Yeah, whatever. I just wanted to say hi anyway, you know, since you gave me your number and all. Thought I should put it to good use."

"Awww, I'm happy you thought about me, Alex. I'm flattered."

"Of course you are. Anyway, I've probably wasted enough of your time, i should-"

"Whoah, wait!"

"What?"

"Did you wanna hang out before break ended?"

The sound of silence crackled in Desmond's ear. He waited patiently for answer, letting the question run through the giant processor that was Alex's mind. Really he didn't think it was that big of a deal, if she didn't want to, all she had to do was say no. Unless she was actually considering it. In which case, she was probably over thinking it and freaking out about it and-

"I don't have anyone to watch Dana" Alex finally said.

"I'll come to your place" Desmond replied.

"I dunno, it's kind of a mess…"

"Didn't you just spend all day cleaning it?"

More silence.

"…Alex, if you don't wanna, then okay, I'll see you-"

"Can you come around one or so? Tomorrow?"

Desmond grinned.

"Yes I can. Are you sure you want me over?"

"…Yes?"

"Positive?"

"Yup"

"Then I'll see you then. If you can't after all, don't be shy about calling me back to cancel"

**x-X-X-x**

The next day, Desmond found himself walking onto his old elementary school playground. It felt almost surreal, being here again after all these years. Left as a dopey ten year old and came back as a still dopey, now seventeen year old. Nothing had really changed, but a lot of the equipment, like swings and slides, and the jungle gym, it all looked way smaller than he remembered.

But he watched Dana dump her bike on the blacktop and run over to the monkey bars and climb on no problem. Desmond suspected if he tried the same, he'd end up walking right into them and knocking himself out.

"Jeez," Desmond breathed. "Fucking nostalgia trip over here."

"Yeah?" Alex smirked up at him. "Having flashbacks?"

"Like you wouldn't believe" Desmond grinned back.

Maybe it was also surreal to see Alex wearing something other than her beloved dark colored jackets and sweatshirts. She still wore long sleeves, but it was a more form fitting shirt as opposed to something bigger and lumpier. It was just nice to see she wasn't a mass of clothing with a head and two legs sticking out from the bottom. He almost wished she dressed like this more often, but he could understand why she didn't.

But in addition, her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. And for once, he could actually see her face. To him, that was the real treat right there, to see her sharp cheekbones and her strong jaw, and to see the faint splattering of her freckles. Okay, maybe he really just wished she'd pull her hair back more, she had such a pretty face, that was the shame there in hiding it.

"I used to be a lil' shit on the playground" Desmond said. "I would climb on top of _everything_. I spent way too many recesses on the bench."

"Ugh, I would have fucking killed you," Alex rolled her eyes. "If Dana ever tries that shit, she'd be grounded so fast…"

Desmond laughed, took her hand, and they walked over to the swings to sit down.

"I don't remember these seats being so small" grunted Desmond as he somehow squeezed his ass awkwardly onto the seat. Alex snickered at him, and she delicately sat down without any fuss. Desmond stuck his tongue out at her. "Curse you and your petite body."

"Sorry I haven't grown since freshman year," Alex retorted. "Not all of us get to be giants like you, Desmond."

He scowled at her, but his scowl softened and he attempted to start swinging himself up. It was a little hard, his legs too long for this, and he just as awkwardly had to find a way to pump his legs without hitting the sand. Alex on the other hand had no problem at all, and she was swinging up and down past him with relative ease.

"I don't think I like you anymore" Desmond told her loudly.

"Is that so?" she sneered at him when she swung past his eye level.

"Not in the slightest, ya show off."

"Green's not a good color on you, Dessy."

"Oh shut up!"

"You shut up, whiner!"

Desmond stomped his feet into the sand and stood up. Alex took it the extra mile and jumped off the seat of her swing to land in the sand squarely on her feet. They faced each other, arms akimbo as they stared each other down, a scowl and sneer on their faces each. It was really kinda silly looking.

It felt sillier when they finally launched themselves at each other, and they fell into the sand, but they were laughing anyway. And Alex was fiercer than she looked, and oh she proved it when she ended up perched on Desmond's chest, and the latter could only stare up at her in pleasant astonishment.

Alex's mighty reign only lasted briefly. Dana must have seen their small tussle, for the young girl ran over and jumped Alex with a mighty cry, and ended up knocking over. And so the fight resumed.

**x-X-X-x**

"We're gonna die" Alex said for the upteenth time as Desmond pulled her up onto the roof with him. "Okay, i'm going to die."

"Relaaax," Desmond assured her. "I know how to get down from here just fine. Live a little."

Alex didn't say anything back, just clung to his arm as she made it to the top of the roof. They had left Dana back on the playground with some other kids that had popped up. With her occupied, they had a chance to slip away, time for a little alone time.

"We're not gonna get caught are we?" she asked him.

"Only if you want to be" Desmond smiled, and he laughed when she slugged his arm.

"I mean it, Desmond."

"So do I. Trust me, we'll be fine."

He forced her to lie back on the roof top with him, only their feet bordering the edge of the roof. The sun had moved and was starting to cast some shadows over the area, but it was far from dark quite yet. Hazy thin clouds hung lazily up in the sky, and the only sounds they heard were the far of shrieks of children, and the chirp of birds. It was a very calming and relaxing moment.

At some point, Alex managed to relax, her death grip on his arm disappeared, and her hand fell down from his bicep to lie flat along his. And then at some point after that, one of their hand's twitched, and one thing led to another, and their fingers were entwined.

"…Hey Desmond?"

The comfortable silence they had fallen into was broken, and the boy in question turned his head to look over at Alex.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you like me?"

"Cause you're awesome?"

"No really, _why_ do you like me?"

Desmond furrowed his brows at her.

"Cause you're you. And I just like you."

"Why'd you like me before you actually knew me?"

"Have you seen yourself? You're really pretty."

Alex let out a loud huff. He didn't understand what she wanted to hear from him. She was pretty, yes. And smart, and snarky, and was funny when she wanted to be. She was nice to the people who deserved it. What was there not to like?

"Desmond, are you gay?"

What.

"I don't see what that has to do with liking you."

"Answer it."

Desmond sighed.

"No, I'm not. As long as I could remember, I liked girls. I liked girls before, and I like girls now. And especially right now, I like this really pretty and really nice girl with the most amazing blue eyes I've ever seen. Does that help any?"

Alex didn't respond, her lips pressed into a thin line, her face pink.

"Look," Desmond went on. "I don't _care_ if you still have a dick between your legs. I'm not attracted to that, I'm attracted to _you_ as a person. And if you say you're a girl, then I am attracted to the girl that is you. Okay? I like you because I can, and I just do. And I'm not gonna think less of you because of what your body looks like. So…don't worry about it. I think you're great."

Alex remained silent, blinking rapidly behind her glasses, and she turned her head away from him. Desmond frowned, but gently squeezed her hand in reassurance.

"I like you, Alex."

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

The third section is not funny. Do not read it as such.

x-x-x-x

* * *

><p>"Ew, <em>prom<em>."

"Not a fan of school dances?"

"They're just so _pointless_. I've already been dragged to Homecoming a couple times, I just don't see the point. And it's _super_ uncomfortable."

"Well, would you go if you had a date?"

"Psh, not even. I don't do prom."

And that was the end of that conversation. Alex walked away, shaking her head, and Desmond just kept staring at the handmade poster for prom tickets.

**x-X-X-x**

Unsurprisingly enough, Desmond agonized over the idea of prom anyway. Junior Prom, really nothing to sneeze at. But he couldn't get it off his mind. He couldn't get the idea of taking _Alex_ to Prom out of his head. What would she look like in a dress? How drop dead gorgeous would she be in make-up? How would she look under all those different lights on the dance floor? Oh god, did she even know how to dance?

But Alex didn't wanna go to prom.

Desmond could cry.

**x-X-X-x**

Well he didn't need Alex anyway! He could get a date all on his own! Desmond knew lots of girls outside his circle of friends. Surely one of them needed a date for prom. Easy squeezy lemon peazy. Yet, as Desmond looked at all his options, none of the other girls quite had the dark hair and startling blue eyes he had his heart set on.

And then he made a mistake of asking a guy in his class if he knew of any girls who needed a prom date. The guy looked at him oddly and asked, "Aren't you gay?"

Desmond didn't reply, and he just dropped it altogether.

**x-X-X-x**

So he decided to ask Alex. No she didn't want to go, but what if she said yes if he asked her? It didn't have to be romantic or anything, it could totally be a friend-date. Just a little something-something to get her out of the house for a night, god knew Alex needed that. Desmond would even get her a babysitter for Dana just to take her out to prom! It. Was. Foolproof.

The next day, Desmond approached Alex at her locker, and blurted out, "Iknowyousaidyouwouldn'twannagobutyouwannagotopromwithmeanyway?"

Alex (and everyone else around them) stared at him with wide eyes and confused faces.

"Huh?" Alex said to him, and without another word, Desmond broke away from her and hurried down the hall while everyone looked own in astonishment.

**x-X-X-x**

Lunch that day felt super intense and awkward. Alex didn't bring up the day's earlier incident, for which Desmond was thankful for. But she didn't wait for him after school to walk over to the bike racks, and Desmond didn't fight it. Instead, he went back to the mental drawing board to devise another method of asking her out.

So that night he called her, ready to give a big pitch about what amazing prom date he would be, and how he'd make sure she'd have the best time ever, wouldn't regret, it was gonna be so much fun!

But all Desmond got out was a "Hey Alex-" when the phone was answered, and he got a swift reply back;

"No."

And then she hung up on him.

**x-X-X-x**

Desmond didn't see Alex at their lockers the next day. At lunch, Alex actually sat on the other side of the table _away_ from him, and casually chatted with Lucy and Rebecca like she wasn't upset with Desmond, but he knew she was.

So after school let out that day, Desmond went straight to the bike racks as opposed to heading over to his locker. And he sat down on Alex's bike and waited for her to show up. When she finally did, she was livid the moment she saw him sitting there.

"Let me explain!" Desmond cried at her.

"Get off my bike" Alex snarled at him.

"I know you said you didn't wanna go, but I just, lemme at least ask you anyway!"

"Off!"

"Alex Mercer, do you wanna go to prom with me?"

"I don't wanna do anything with anyone! Now one more time, get off my fucking bike!"

Desmond complied, and Alex shoved him away. "Why is it so damn important to you anyway?" Alex asked as she undid the lock and chain on her bike.

"Because it would be fun?" Desmond offered.

Alex let out a huff.

"I'll pay for it, tickets and all."

"Ooooh, what a deal breaker."

"You could wear a dress."

Piercing blue eyes flicked up at him.

"They'd never let me" Alex said simply.

"No one's gonna know it's you."

"They probably would."

"Alex…."

"No Desmond, I can't. You know I can't."

"Yes you can, I promise."

"No, I…I need to go, but I just…it's just not going to work that way. I'll see you later."

**x-X-X-x**

But she could, couldn't see?

It wasn't like they were going to ask who the dates were, so long as two people showed up and turned in two tickets, admission payed. So what did it matter if one of them was in a dress? Desmond bet Alex would look amazing in one. She already had the deceptively beautiful face, put a little make up on and boom, perfect, right?

That wasn't the point though, and it took Desmond a while to realize it. He had been more focused on thinking about the great time they could have, and he hadn't at all thought about Alex's feelings on the matter. Sure, she perked up a little at the mention of dressing up, but she was right in mentioning that no, no one was going to let her walk through the doors in a dress.

And then what if she did? Was she going to be harassed the whole time she was there? Were the girls going to pick on her, and the boys beat down on her? Fuck, she was already getting bullied as it was, perhaps coming to a school event like that wasn't such a good idea.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

In the end, Desmond decided it would be best to just drop it all together, and he'd issue Alex an apology the next morning.

**x-X-X-x**

Before anyone knew it, the week of prom was upon them. And everyone was freaking out about it, whether it was about dresses, or dinner reservations, or having a date…

It felt like the only two people in the school who weren't getting all hot and bothered about it were Desmond and Alex. Everyone in their group was going to prom, and as tempted as Desmond was to join him on his own, it just wouldn't feel fair to him if he went without Alex. Regardless of whether or not she wanted to go, it wasn't fair to exclude her like that, so he was going to sit this year out with her.

In the meantime, Desmond and Alex had pretty much made up. They had fallen back into that familiar routine again, and laughed about this whole prom dilemma after the fact. It was all, "gee Desmond, way to freak out, what is this, some bad sitcom?"

It was funny, and they laughed, and they moved on with their lives. If anything, their lunchtimes was filled with watching all the other kids in school flip out over something so trivial as a dance. If they had popcorn, they'd sit in the middle of the quad and watch the chaos in utter fascination, stuffing their faces as everyone else tripped over themselves.

Then the Friday before came along, and Desmond was sitting around at home, surfing the web on his laptop, totally unconcerned for tomorrow night. And then around nine, his phone started ringing. Desmond picked it up and hit the speaker, saying aloud, "Hello?"

"Desmond?" came Alex's voice. He nearly dropped his phone in surprise.

"Uhm ah yes uhm, heeeey~ Wassup girl?"

Smooth as a baby's bottom.

"I think I change my mind, I so regret calling you if you're gonna talk like that, ohmygod, nevermind I just- KAREN NO!"

Desmond listened intently as what he imagined was the phone being wrenched out of Alex's hands and being pressed up to another ear.

"So you're Desmond" a new voice stated.

"Yup," he replied back. "To what do I owe the honor of randomly being called this fine evening?"

"Hi Desmond, my name's Karen. I'm the best friiiend since middle school, secret keeper, only real mother the Mercers haaaaave….You get the point."

Desmond laughed, "Yeah, I think I do? Nice to meet ya."

"Likewise. So Desmond, I've just become aware that youuu were tying to ask my dear Allie-kins out to your school's prom?"

"That would be correct, yes. If you're trying to get me to ask her again, I already let that ship sail, and if she suddenly changed her mind, it's kinda too late to buy tickets."

"Oh shut up," Alex was suddenly worming her way into the conversation. "Not what we're trying to ask you about."

"Then what do you want?" Desmond asked.

"For you to take Alex out on a date anyway," Karen said. "I've been trying to get this girl out on one for yeaaaars, you think she listens to me? And finally a boy asks her out, and she says no? Well clearly that didn't sit well with me. I mean, you sound like a nice guy, and Alex actually likes you, so you're obviously doing something right-

"So please, for both of us Desmond, just take my Alex out tomorrow night anyway?"

There was silence on both ends of the line.

The silence gave Desmond time to fully comprehend just exactly what had been said to him. He wasn't really sure who was trying to ask him out for a date here, Alex, or Karen for Alex. But regardless of who was asking, the gist of it was _him and Alex going on a date_. Which was basically what he had been wanting for the past couple weeks with prom. But holy shit. Hollly shit.

"You know what this was a bad idea," Alex's voice cut in. "Our mistake, sorry Desmond, we'll just-"

And the line went dead.

Desmond let out a loud squawk, and quickly redialed. The line just rang and rang until it finally went to Karen's voicemail. He let out a loud curse and decided to just text back instead.

'You never let me answer :( '

'Alex freaked out' came the response a minute later. 'She won't let me call you back :/ '

'Well tell her I say yes' 'and what time should i pick her up at?'

There was no speedy response, and Desmond took the time to jump off his bed and search through his closet for something suitable to wear. Where would he take her? What would he do with her? Dinner was probably a good, safe option. Could take her over the hill to the restaurant his brother worked at, he knew the staff there. So hopefully they wouldn't…say anything about Desmond bringing Alex over there. Probably the best bet. So nothing too fancy, it was a pretty casual place, they could show up around six and get seated no problem, and then after they could-

Desmond scrambled for his phone when he heard his phone start ringing again. He bounced back across the bed, swept his phone up, and answered.

"Hi," he said. "So uh, dinner sound good?"

"Yeah," Alex replied back, and sighed. "Sure, whatever. Look I'm…I'm sorry about Karen, she's just way too invested in my love life, or lack of one, and thinks your like, some messiah because another human being asked me out to something like prom. You don't have to say yes."

"Alright, I don't have to," Desmond agreed. "But can I say anyway because I want to? I already know someplace we can go? But only if _you_ really, reaaaally want to. If you don't, then that's cool, I'll just see you Monday."

"I….I gotta think on it some more" Alex hurriedly said, and then hung up on him again.

**x-X-X-x**

It was about one thirty in the morning when Desmond finally closed Netflix and shut his laptop off. He rubbed at his eyes blearily and let out a huge yawn. He set his laptop on his nightstand and pulled his blanket up, face snuggling into his pillow, and he waited for sleep to fully overtake him. Just as he felt like he was about to fall into dreamland, he felt a buzz somewhere under his arm.

He groggily felt around for his phone, glanced at the screen, the tossed it aside and fell asleep. In the morning, around eleven, he woke up when his phone buzzed again, and he sorta sat up in bed confused as fuck, but he still reached over for it anyway.

There were two texts waiting for him. One said;

'So I guess like, maybe around 5? 5:30 if that's not too early? I just don't like being out too late. I'm subject to changing my mind, so don't get too comfy with the idea, got it?'

The other text said;

'Hey Desmond, it's Karen. Just wanted to check in and see if you're still on for tonight. I'm really for Alex since she's sitting here making me faces at me. Text me back when you can. ^^ xoxoxox'

Desmond blinked down at the text with dull expression on his face, and it was until much later when he had shambled down to the kitchen and fixed himself a bowl of Cheerios did he realize he had a date with Alex tonight.

* * *

><p>x-x-x-x<p>

Next time, desmond and alex's first date, whoooooo!


	5. Chapter 5

Happy Valentine's Day my dear readers! Here's a sizeable updated to keep you happy this weekend!

**x-X-X-x**

* * *

><p>Five thirty that evening, on the dot, Desmond parked outside the Parker home. It was a considerably nicer looking home, fresh paint and a neatly trimmed lawn, flowers bursting with life along the walkway and under the living room window. A cheery, homey place that was the complete opposite of the Mercer house just down the street. Desmond strolled up to the front door and rang the door bell, straightening the collar of his shirt as he waited.<p>

Moments later, an older woman with greying blonde hair opened the door up (Mrs. Parker he had to assume), and she smiled at him when she did.

"Hi," Desmond said to her. "Is uh, Alex here?"

"Come on in," the woman said, and stood aside. "You must be Desmond. The girls are still getting ready."

The inside of the Parker home was incredibly well kept, like it popped out of some family magazine that bored housewives read all day and thought they could perfectly emulate while raising their two point five kids. Except, this actually looked like one of those pictures, and the only thing that put if off was little Dana Mercer sitting in front of the TV, eyes glued to a rerun of Spongebob Squarepants.

"Kareeeeen, Aleeeex, Desmond's here!" Mrs. Parker called out down the hall, then turned back to him. "You just sit tight, they'll be out in a second."

Desmond nodded and Mrs. Parker went off down the hall. Desmond strode over to the TV and picked Dana up to throw her over his shoulder.

"Desy!" Dana squealed in delight, giggling as she dangled over his back.

"Hey kiddo, been good?" he asked her with a grin.

"Yaaaaah~" she replied. "Desy, are you really taking Allie on a date?"

"That's the plan unless it got changed on me."

"Are you her boyfriend?"

It took all his willpower to just not drop her on her head, but Desmond froze up anyway, hands still clamped over her ankles to keep her from falling.

"N-No!"

"Why not?"

"C-Cause you don't need a boyfriend to go on a date. It's fun to go as friends too!"

"Oh, okay" and she wiggled in place. "Desy I'm missin my shoooow."

He set her down and Dana resumed her mindless consumption of cartoon violence via talking sponge, and Desmond took a seat down on the couch. He spent the next few minutes glancing between the TV and the hallway, waiting for Karen and Alex to appear. At least they weren't in a huge hurry or anything, they really had all night to do whatever. He imagined that Alex was probably all ready, just working through the nerves to walk out and go.

And Desmond could sit here and wait all night if he had to, he wasn't going to leave until Alex told him to (or the Parkers kicked him out, whatever came first). But eventually he heard a door creak and some voices, and then moments later, a younger version of Mrs. Parker appeared.

"Oh good you're still here," she smiled, and he recognized her voice, it was Karen. "Shit you're a lot cuter than I thought you would be."

Desmond blinked at her. What?

"Okay sit tight, let me drag Alex out here. You will noooot be disappointed!" and she disappeared back down the hall. Desmond hopped up to his feet, nervously straightening his clothes again as he waited. He could hear the voices again arguing from the down the hall, and there was a lot of reassurance from Karen, "Come no, you look fine, just let him see you, you're gonna be okay."

It felt like agony waiting, but oh, the wait so worth it. Desmond almost didn't recognize her when she walked into the room. A knee length, short sleeved sandy brown dress with small white polka dots. Her messy hair, normally kept down, had been combed and put up into a large bun. Her lips were a soft pink, rosy blush on her cheeks, and he could see dark mascara behind her glasses, her blue eyes brighter than he had ever seen them.

Alex looked up at him shyly, clutching at her arms tucked under her visibly _prominent_ chest. Desmond kept glancing her up and down, unable to comprehend that this was Alex Mercer, this was the girl he had been friends with for a few months now, the one who sat next to him at lunch and tried to correct his homework in her godawful chicken scratch.

"Weeeeeeell?" Karen prompted. "How are we feelin kiddos?"

"Pretty!" Dana screeched when she turned around to see her sister all dolled up, and she got to her feet and sped over to Alex to gaze up at her in awe.

"Wow" Desmond breathed. "Just….wow."

He could see Alex's ears turn bright red.

"Good enough!" Karen declared. "Now don't you two have a date or something to get to?"

The next couple minutes after that consisted of edging Alex to and out the door, and towards the car. Desmond and Karen had to sorta push-pull along. Desmond was beginning to think this was a bad idea, maybe they should just cancel so she could run back inside and put on something more comfortable for her. But somehow they got her out to the car, and inside the car, and buckled up while she still had the same shell shocked expression on her face.

"Okay you crazy kids, you two have fun tonight~" Karen said to them through the window of Desmond's car. "Just try and be back before eleven, don't get arrested, and Desmond?"

He looked over at her.

"Hurt Alex, and I hurt you okay?"

Desmond's eyes widened.

"Okay, great! Now you two get out of here. Try and relax" and she gave Alex a quick peck on the cheek before bouncing back off towards her house.

Desmond started the engine and drove off, quickly glancing at Alex as they passed through the neighborhood. She hadn't said anything at all, and she still stared forward unblinkingly.

"I can turn around if you want to," Desmond offered. "We don't have to go if you're scared or anything."

Alex's jaw clenched, and her lips were pressed into a thin line. But she shook her head and leaned back in her seat. "I'm fine" she said quietly. "I'm okay."

"If you change your mind, tell me, okay?"

"Just keep driving."

**x-X-X-x**

Poli's was a pretty low-key place that mostly truckers or college students tended to end up at. It was like an Italian fusion with something else and something else, and it somehow stayed in business despite its main demographic of customers. But it was a generally quiet place, and Desmond knew just about the entirety of the staff, so if he was going to bring a date here, it would be in more familiar waters.

Thankfully, it was Rosa manning the front desk when they walked in. She turned towards them with a cheery grin, ready to greet them when her smile dropped and she stared at Desmond with a look of panic. She relaxed a second later to roll her eyes as Desmond grinned devilishly at her.

"Stop that," she told him as she grabbed menus. "I hate it when you do that."

"Do what?" Desmond asked innocently.

"Stop looking like your brother, dammit."

"Now that I can't help~"

Rosa huffed and beckoned for them to follow her. Alex was looking up at him with a very confused look, as if she had just missed something and couldn't quite figure out what it was. "I'll explain later" Desmond said to her, and he looped his arm around hers and they followed Rosa through the restaurant. Along the way to their table, they passed a waitress that almost had the same reaction towards Desmond, but relaxed a lot sooner and smiled at him as she passed.

"Hi Desmond!" she said to him cheerily.

"Hi Cristina!" Desmond said back to her. And once she was out of earshot, Desmond leaned forward and whispered to Rosa, "So Ezio had her over the other day."

"Noooo" Rosa whispered in surprise. "Oh no, they didn't do it, did they?"

"Maybe, didn't exactly stick around to find out, but she definitely came over for a purpose."

Rosa just shook her head and sighed. She showed them to their table and handed them their menus once they took their seats.

"Well can I get you kids anything to drink to start off with? And it has to be soda or water, okay?" Rosa said to them, giving Desmond a hard stare. Desmond smiled and batted his eyes at her. "Right then, Dr. Pepper and-" Rosa turned to look at Alex, who looked more like a startled dear, and Rosa simply continued on with, "Coke, got it. Sit tight kiddos."

And then she was gone.

**x-X-X-x**

Their date was awkward at best, yet Desmond still found it rather thrilling. Alex didn't say much, spending most of their dinner staring down at the table, or off to the side, and just pretty much anywhere but him. She glanced more at the other patrons of the restaurant than she did him, but Desmond was following her lead in that department. No one looked at them, or came up to them, or even so much as acknowledged they were there in the first place. It was like they were completely invisible, just as they should be.

It surprised them when after all was said and done, Rosa brought them their check alongside a chocolate lava cake.

"Desert's on your brother's tab," Rosa winked at Desmond. "Hope you kids liked your date, you're both adorable, you know that?"

And they had blushed in equal amounts of embarrassment, but Desmond payed for the meal, and the two were out of there before Rosa could gush over them some more. The least Desmond could do at that point was end their date quietly, and he drove Alex just outside of town to one of various scenic points that faced looked out over everything.

So they ended up sitting on the tailgate of Desmond's truck, the cake between them as they idly stabbed at it with their forks and took bites. The cake was half gone when Desmond cleared his throat and said, "So I wanna apologize to you."

Alex blinked up at him. "Oh?" she asked.

"Yeah uh…I'm sorry for dragging you out to dinner."

"You don't need to apologize?"

"But you had a miserable time!"

"Did I though?"

It was Desmond's turn to give her a confused look.

"But you were so tense! You looked like a trapped coyote ready to gnaw your arm off to escape."

"Oh," and Alex rolled her eyes in thought, bottom lip puffing out. "Well that sounds about right, but it didn't mean I didn't enjoy it."

"So it was okay?"

"Well…yeah! I mean, the food was good, it wasn't too crowded, Rosa was a doll, we got free desert, and I've never seen you better dressed in the whole couple months I've known you. Also, _I_ didn't have to go to prom. I'd say tonight was a major win. Did you honestly think I had an awful time?"

Desmond responded by flapping his mouth open and close like a fish out water as his face reddened in embarrassment. "Kinda?" he eventually managed to squeak out.

"Stop thinking that then, I really enjoyed myself, and that's saying something. I don't really like dates as it is. Okay well, like the typical sort of dates you see on TV. You know, the movies, or dinner, or ice skating or some bullshit, yeah no, not into that stuff. _Karen_ thinks those are the epitomes of romance, but I really beg to differ" Alex smirked at the end, picking at the cake again and popping a small bite into her mouth.

"So what do you like then?" Desmond asked.

Alex chewed thoughtfully for a few moments.

"Mmmmm," she hummed. "….My favorite dates with Karen are…When it's a rainy day, and we're Downtown, and we can hit up all the museums, and hardly anyone is there. Driving down there's a bitch and all, but once you're in…It's just the best. Or if you go on the right day, and the Science Center is empty, you can go touch _everything_ and it's just so wonderful-"

Desmond listened intently, watched as the stars seem to twinkle in her eyes, studied the faraway look on her face, hear utter adoration in her voice.

"And then going to the aquarium on the same day as some dumb sports game, god the employees there just get so happy to see you. And it feels like the animals are even more lively because it's just you and the other person to see them, and they don't wanna disappoint you. Like, does that make sense?"

"Sure it does. What else?"

"Sneaking out at midnight to drive down to the beach. It's only thirty minutes normally from here, but it's even faster later at night with no cards on the road. Just park across the street at the supermarket, and you can jaywalk across PCH no problem. Then you got the whoooole beach to yourself to do whatever. I really recommend it, it seems like some wild thing you and your friends would be into."

"Kinda yeah, alright, okay. But can I say that seems really unlike you? You, Miss Straight A Student with near perfect attendance and a baby sister at home. How do you sleep at night?"

"Eaaasy," Alex giggled. "All my sins lull me to sleep, and I have nothing but blissful dreams."

They both erupted into full laughter. And that felt more natural, just the two of them hanging around, telling wild stories to one another. Just them, no one else to stare or judge them, free to be themselves without worry. Desmond felt like he understood why Alex preferred these kinds of dates over more traditional ones. They eventually calmed down some, enough to stifle giggles and snickers as they polished off of the cake and tossed the carton behind them.

It got quiet between them, but that was fine. They stared out at the town below them, small lights flickering on in the distance the sun disappeared over the horizon, leaving traces of purple just barely visible beyond the mountains. It was really nice.

"…Hey Alex?"

"Hm?"

"You look great. Like really great. You're really super pretty, and I want you to know that."

"….Thank you Desmond. That really means a lot to me."

"Can I ask you something kinda personal though?"

"What's that?"

"How'd you make your boobs?"

"Oh!"

Alex turned towards him and cupped under her "breasts".

"You know those mini basketballs you can get at the Nike store?"

Desmond nodded.

"Okay so, we just cut one in half, then made like, triangles out of them? We saw it on the internet, and decided to try it out. Basically what you do is make some boobie kinda shapes out of the pieces, and then you put in a bra, you know, make it a cup. So we just cut an old bra up Karen's mom so graciously donated to me, and put the pieces in that. It's supposed to be way more elaborate and shit, so consider this a prototype model until I can get some forms to put on instead."

At the end of her explanation, Alex tapped on one of her breasts, and Desmond could hear something harder being hit.

"Ohhh…That's really fucking smart!" Desmond exclaimed. "Well for that being a floor model, it really got the job done, I couldn't figure out how ya did it!"

"I know right? And then we just had to pad it up it wouldn't be totally flat against me. So you know, if it works, it works," she shrugged. The big smile that had formed on Alex's face dropped a little before it turned into a round "o" shape, and her eyes widened. "You thought my breasts looked real?"

"Yes?" Desmond said. "I mean, I was honestly shocked when you walked out with a chest and I couldn't figure out how you did that. Unless you had boobs the entire time and you didn't tell me, cause I'm no expert on biology, but I don't think B cups grow in overnight. So yeah, you had me thrown for a loop there."

Alex didn't say anything, just kept staring at him instead with the happiest, brightest smile on her face he had ever seen. She looked like she just got the news that she had won the lottery and the Nobel peace prize at the same time. Her hands moved up on her chest to fully cup her makeshift breasts, and clenched.

It took Desmond a bit to fully realize what kind of impact his words had on her. He had basically just told her that her chest looked amazing and they were convincing enough to make someone thing they were her real breasts. Actual bouncy breasts. It was the happiest, most relieved expression Desmond had ever seen on someone.

Desmond couldn't help but smile in return.

**x-X-X-x**

Their "traditional" date ended the way most did. Desmond dropped Alex off back at Karen's house and walked her up to the front door. Before Alex went inside though, Desmond pulled out his phone, opened up the camera, and took with a selfie with her all dolled up. it was the perfect picture to end a great night. When everyone else woke up tomorrow to post their Prom pictures, they were going to see that picture on their walls with the caption, "Best date ever with the prettiest girl in the world :) ".

"We should do something like this again sometime," Desmond offered. "Whatever you wanna do, whenever you want to."

"I'lll think about it," Alex said, rocking back on her heels. "Maybe put together a better bra before we do."

"What's wrong with the one you have on now?" Desmond quirked a brow at her.

"It could be better," Alex smirked. "Go big or go home."

They shared another laugh, exchanged a last hug, and bid each other a good night. Alex went inside, and Desmond strolled back to his car.

He had to get home, there was a picture waiting on his phone to be plastered all over social media.

* * *

><p><strong>x-X-X-x<strong>

I love you aaaaaall. uwu~


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